Mold for blown-glass plates.



No. 839,987. PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

S I. BUTTERS. 4

A MOLD FOR BLOWN GLASS PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED JAE. 28. 1905f Di b" AUG/H6)! W/Y 5$;- D 17 [/VVJiNTQR 2 2 .5. Samuel l Butlers.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Iatented Jan. 1', 1907.

Application filed January 28, 1905. Serial No. 243.119.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that l, SAMUEL l. Browse, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clarksburg, in the county of Harrison, tate of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Molds for Blown- Glass Plates, of which the following is specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a mold for glass blown plates having thereon embossed letters or designaand' is particularly adapted for the construction of such a plate oflarge size. a v

In the rior art it has been customary to form small letters embossed upon glass plates by blowing the same upon the angular faces oil a receptacle or bottle, and it has been i found that at the angles between these faces the-thicknessoi the'plate was materially do creased, so that a thin brittle edgewas left at that point, while arnold of this character could not be used inblowing a large letter, owing to the area of expansion necessary to form a plate of the size common in signs and other large designs produced in plates of transparent. or translucent character. These lar e plates have been heretofore formed by molding or pressing the lass so that the same was ofunaterial thic ness and the de sign simply raised upon the surface thereof} by an additional thickness of material, thus producing a plate which was easily broken or fractured, owing to its compressed character, and which was very objectionable, owing to the weight thereof for the necessarysize, of letter.

The present invention has for an object to obviate these difficulties by the rovision of a mold for the formation of a p ate of equal thickness throughout its length and of a blown character-in which the design or letter upon the plate is of the same thickness as the body of the plate and embossed thereon. The formation of the plate as part of a flatsided blown bowl permits the plate to be tempered in that form, which prevents the warping'oi the plate which occurs m an attempt to temper a large plate when in sheet form. I

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the ap ended claim. 1 I t I n the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the mold opened Fig. 2,21. perspective of the same closed; Fi 3, a section on the lim 3 3 of Fig. 1 with t e mold closed; Fig. 4, a

perspective of the connected plates as rcmoved from the mold; Figa 5, a horizontal section on the line 5 5 of ig. 4; Fi 6, elevation of a plate havin a letter t ereon, and Fig. 7 a similar View 0 a designplate.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures oi the drawin rs.

Any desired construction of mo d may be used for the purpose of this invention, pro vided the same has a fiat face extended yond the area of the disdace therein and merged intoa curved ortion. For instance as illustrated, the mo d may comprise oppesite members A and B, both of which may contain letters or designs to be formed upci" the opposite plates, or, if desired, one of thee; may e omitted and a plane well used in its stead. The mold as here shown is provided with a hinge member 6 and handles C, whili: itis held in closed position by any form of latch, (shown at C one member of the mold being fixed to a support by the plate 0*, so 12 that the opposite member isfree to swing toward and from the same in the usual man-v between the points A l-upon one face of the mold and the points B -upon the opposite face thereof, this fiat portion being of greater area than the die-face or the letter to be formed thereon and at each end is merged into aeurved portion A and B which portions meet at the point of separation of. the mold, thus permitting its opening by a swinging movement for the removal of the blown piece therefrom. Each member of the top of the mold is provided with the usual open-, ing for the introduction of the blowpipe therein. The piece of bowl blown within this mold is shown at Fig. 4 and comprises the o posite fiat faces D of greater area than the p ate to be formed and from which the plate containing the letter or design is out upon the dotted lines D, (indicated in Fig. 4, leaving the completed plate as shown in ig. 6. When thus blown, the opposite plates are connected at their edges by the curved rtions D which are thinner in diameter t an the body of the plates, but owing to their" eurved configuration prevent the breakage or bursting of the piece in blowing, which frequently occurs in the use oi" an angular .mold.

the piece may be used to contain a letteror design and whilein connected form are passed to the tempering or annealing furnace, so

that they may be held against warping and when severed from each other upon the lines 1) of Figs. 4 and 5 produce a true plate of even thickness adapted to be inserted in a groove or slot, as customaryin the use of IO letters for sign purposes. While inFig. 6 a letter 1) has been shown upon the plate 1), any desired design or body may be represented thereon for instance, a Masonic emblem --as shown at D" in Fig. 7.

Fol-the purpose of permitting an interchanging of the letters or characters to 'be blown in a single mold the members A and B are each provided with an aperture having beveled edges for the insertion of the diefaces A and B, which are also beveled upon their edges and: adapted to fit those of the apertures, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The die-faces are preferably inserted from the outside and are held in position by any desired ineans for instance, a pivoted latchbar A" and latch-plate A. This bar when thrown into the dot-ted position in Fig. 2 permits the removal of a die-face and its replacement by one provided with a different charactor, which is then looked in position by dropping the bar.

It will be seen that the present mold having onl two flat surfaces permits the formation of a plate of the necessary size. for sign 3 5 purposes or for application to a window-sash by means of a l lowing process and the tempering of the blown plate thus securing a plate of thin tough cl'iaracter in which the parts are of equal thickness and not, conse- 0 quently, liable to fracture and from which the letter or design is blown without increasing the thickness of the plate, thus reducing Either one or both plates comprising 3 the weight of material and increasing its transparency, if it be desired for that purpose, and, above all, providing a letter-platewhich 15 may be annealed without warping and can be formed by a blowing process, which has been impossible in the prior art. It should be stated thatthese plates are not for the formation of letters to be severed therefrom 1,) for sign purposes; but the plate is of materially large size, such as used in large illumi nated signs,in which it is essential that a light, strong, and durable plate containing the letter or dcsign'must be provided to meet 5 5 the climatic and other conditions to which such a sign is exposed.

It will be obvious thatchanges may be made in the details of construction and con figuration without departing from thespirit 6c of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

Having described my invention and set forthits merits, what 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A mold for the production of glass-sign letter-plates comprising an unobstructed flat molding-face of larger area than the character to be produced therein, a die disposed beyond the plane of said molding-face and within the margin thereof, and continuouslycurved marginal portions extending entirely about and merging into all the edges of said flat molding-face, whereby an obstructed flow and even thickness of-molt-en glass upon said molding-face is secured and the charac ter thereondisposed within the flat margin portion of the finished plate.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presenccof two witnesses.

- SAMUEL I. BUTTERS.

Witnesses:

CHAS. WV. FURBEE, 

